Trojans claim another CVAC sweep on baseball diamond

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on March 26, 2007 2:23 PM

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WILSON -- Jason Sherrer's seventh-inning three-run homer helped break open a one-run game and Josh Carter belted a grand slam home run in the eighth as nationally 20th-ranked Mount Olive extended its winning streak to 12 and completed a three-game Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference baseball sweep with a 16-4 victory over host and archrival Barton on Sunday.

The Trojans, who scored 11 runs in the final three innings, belted four home runs Sunday and 10 homers in their last two games.

Mount Olive (30-8 overall, 13-2 CVAC) broke a scoreless tie with a two-out rally in the top of the seventh. Sherrer and Anthony Williams were both hit by pitch with two outs and David Cooper and Stephen Nordan followed with RBI-singles to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead.

Josh Harrison singled in a run in the third and after Sherrer was hit by a pitch for the second straight time, Williams singled up the middle to plate Harrison and extend Mount Olive's lead to 4-0.

Trojan starter Darrell Ellis (4-1) held Barton hitless until the bottom of the third when Travis Holloman singled in a run after the Bulldogs put two runners on base with nobody out on a walk and an error. Second baseman Williams helped stop the rally, throwing out a runner at the plate on a 5-4-2 double play.

Dustin Richardson singled in a run in the top of the fourth to push the Trojans' lead back to four. Barton (17-23, 7-10) used the long ball in the bottom of the inning to cut Mount Olive's lead to a run. Kevin Brosseau led off the inning with a home run and after a single by Quinn Fuller, Barrett Martin hit a two-run homer to pull the Bulldogs within 5-4.

It remained a one-run game until the top of the seventh when Erik Lovett and Carter led off with singles and Harrison doubled in a run. Sherrer followed with a three-run homer to extend the Trojans' lead to 9-4.

Mount Olive broke the game open in the eighth inning as Scott Houin hit a leadoff double, Richardson singled and Lovett drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. After a pitching change, Carter drilled the first pitch he saw over the left field fence to clear the bases and give the Trojans a 13-4 lead. Harrison made it back-to-back home runs with a blast to right field to build the lead to double digits.

Houin, whose home run last week at home hit the scoreboard at Scarborough Field, completed the scoring in the ninth inning with a two-run homer over the scoreboard at Barton's Nixon Field.

Ellis gave up four hits in five innings for the Trojans. Ted Pelech allowed one hit in two scoreless innings and Patrick Ball retired all six batters he faced, striking out the side in the eighth.

Mount Olive scored 42 runs in the three-game series and has surpassed the 10-run mark in seven of its last 10 games.

Mount Olive takes today off, then returns to action Tuesday as the Trojans play host to Wingate in a non-conference doubleheader. Game time is 2 p.m. at Scarborough Field.